Stansfield Turner, Carter's CIA Director who was asleep during the Iranian revolution and the Russian invasion of Afghanistan, thinks that Bush's selection of Porter Goss as the new CIA chief is purely political.
Retired Adm. Stansfield Turner, who was CIA chief during the Carter administration and supports Sen. John Kerry's presidential bid, said selection of the Florida Republican marked "a bad day for the CIA." Goss was chosen simply "to help George Bush win votes in Florida," he said.Not to be outdone, Sen Charles Shumer has just one criterion:
"This is the worst appointment that's ever been made to the office of director of central intelligence because that's an office that needs to be kept above partisan politics," Turner said.
"I would find it very hard to support any nominee who did not endorse the 9/11 commission recommendations on intelligence.... The focal point of this nomination is not who he is, but these recommendations."Apparently the fact that Rep. Goss is Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and a former Army Intellegence officer and CIA spook aren't the right qualifications qualifications for Kerry and his people. Not all that surprising. I bet Goss can't even speak French. Posted by Kevin Murphy at August 10, 2004 01:24 PM | TrackBack
He may indeed speak french actually, but that's acording to an interview with Michael Moore.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/
"I don't have the language skills. I, you know, my language skills were romance languages and stuff. We're looking for Arabists today. I don't have the cultural background probably," Goss is quoted in an interview transcript.
Posted by: bob bobbit at August 18, 2004 10:28 AM